Corn and Wheat Residue Management Effects on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Mid-Atlantic USA

Martin L. Battaglia, Wade E. Thomason, John H. Fike, Gregory K. Evanylo, Ryan D. Stewart, Cole D. Gross, Mahmoud F. Seleiman, Emre Babur, Amir Sadeghpour and Matthew Tom Harrison
Additional contact information
Martin L. Battaglia: Center for Sustainability Science, The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA 22203, USA
Wade E. Thomason: School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
John H. Fike: School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Gregory K. Evanylo: School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Ryan D. Stewart: School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Cole D. Gross: Department of Renewable Resources, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, 442 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada
Mahmoud F. Seleiman: Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Emre Babur: Soil and Ecology Department, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaraş 46050, Turkey
Amir Sadeghpour: Crop, Soil, and Environment Program, School of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Matthew Tom Harrison: Tasmanian Insititute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Newnham, Launceston 7248, Australia

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from crop residue management have been studied extensively, yet the effects of harvesting more than one crop residue in a rotation have not been reported. Here, we measured the short-term changes in methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in response to residue removal from continuous corn ( Zea mays L.) (CC) and corn–wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)–soybean ( Glycine max L. Merr.) (CWS) rotations in the Mid-Atlantic USA. A first experiment retained five corn stover rates (0, 3.33, 6.66, 10, and 20 Mg ha −1 ) in a continuous corn (CC) in Blacksburg, VA, in 2016 and 2017. Two other experiments, initiated during the wheat and corn phases of the CWS rotation in New Kent, VA, utilized a factorial combination of retained corn (0, 3.33, 6.66, and 10.0 Mg ha −1 ) and wheat residue (0, 1, 2, and 3 Mg ha −1 ). Soybean residue was not varied. Different crop retention rates did not affect CO 2 fluxes in any of the field studies. In Blacksburg, retaining 5 Mg ha −1 stover or more increased CH 4 and N 2 O emissions by ~25%. Maximum CH4 and N 2 O fluxes (4.16 and 5.94 mg m −2 day −1 ) occurred with 200% (20 Mg ha −1 ) retention. Two cycles of stover management in Blacksburg, and one cycle of corn or wheat residue management in New Kent did not affect GHG fluxes. This study is the first to investigate the effects of crop residue on GHG emissions in a multi-crop system in humid temperate zones. Longer-term studies are warranted to understand crop residue management effects on GHG emissions in these systems.

Keywords: greenhouse gases; corn stover; wheat straw; carbon dioxide; nitrous oxide; methane (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/846/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/846/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:6:p:846-:d:831912

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().